The blog of the 'There is a Better Way' campaign by STUC staff about policy issues that are, or should be, in the news and guest contributors on issues of social justice. Written from a STUC perspective, contributions will often cover areas where there is yet no settled STUC policy and go into areas in more detail than our formal decisions. We welcome debate and we don’t expect everyone to agree with us, but we will remove any comments that are offensive, irrelevant or otherwise annoy.

Both Yes and No positions have profound implications for the future of
our nation – defending these positions shouldn’t be an easy ride for anyone.

Whether it be the First Minister on tax and procurement or Johann Lamont
on Trident or public spendingit is our
responsibility to highlight inconsistencies and weak arguments.

And we will continue to do so.

Congress,it is of course
acceptable and understandable that affiliates will develop their own positions
on the referendum. These are reflected in our agenda.

However the terms of motion 105, if adopted would be tantamount to
taking a Yes position which would be incompatible with the A Just Scotland
approach. It would throw away the outstanding work undertaken over the last two
years and marginalise our impact in the remaining months before the referendum.

The General Council is entirely comfortable with affiliates taking their
own positions. But it is essential that we leave this Congress with a united STUC
position.

One that will give strength to our A Just Scotland approach.

One that will secure our influence in the debate.

But Congress, the increasingly febrile nature of the debateandthe exaggerated and at times hystericalclaimsof both campaigns is deeply
worrying because the tone is being set for the referendum’s aftermath.

Whether it is a yes or no vote the political atmosphere could quickly
become poisonous.

This is why it is so important that the Scottish trade union movement
continues to play a central role in ensuring the path to Scotland’s
constitutional future is as smooth and consensual as it can possibly be.

Whatever the outcome in September our actions as a movement will be
driven by our values - our values of unity and solidarity.

Whatever the outcome, Scotland’s trade union movement and civic society
must be at the heart of the negotiation process forindependence or enhanced devolution.

And we will not be shy about stating our red line issues:

If it is independence there must be no backtracking on Trident;

and trade union freedom must be at the top of the agenda for the new Scottish
Parliament.

If it’s enhanced devolution then tax powers must go further than those
proposed by the Labour’s Devolution Commission.

And we need to see a new direction from UK Labour. More austerity is not
acceptable.

We will not accept a little bit less of the same.

We want a lot more of something different.

Whatever the outcome in September there will be change - and the trade
union movement on this island will not be immune from it.

Whatever the outcome we all need to remember the need for unity amongst
workers; within and between unions and between trade union centres.

But if we want to be in a postion to shape that change, to achieve A
Just Scotland- closing our eyes,
keeping our fingers crossed and hoping change won’t affect us not an option.

The status quo is not an option.

If we fail to recognise that we fail to recognise the danger of division
– division that will damage our class and our movement and will have the bosses
rubbing their hands.

Our objective is to move forward together. But if the opportunity to
advance is offered should it be rejected because it is denied elsewhere?

If Scotland’s constitutional arrangements, whatever they turn out to be,
allow us to advance the cause of social and economic justice, would it not
ultimately benefit workers across these islands?

We have the capacity to lead that change but we need thecapacity tochange ourselves.

This is an historic moment for our country and our movement.

It will fall to us to define the road we take, to shape our future, to
grasp the opportunity to achieve A Just Scotland.

Our ability to do it lies in every workplace where there is a union
member.

In every workplace where good reps do what good reps do –build the union – and fight for their
members.

It lies in our ability to organise;

In our ability to take on the bad bosses;

In our ability to stand up for our values and our beliefs.

This Congress meets on the cusp of a momentous moment in Scotland’s
history. The prospect of profound change in our nation’s democracy is very real.

But we should be in no doubt that whatever our constitutional future
working people will still have to contend with the Jim Ratcliffes, Michael O’Leary’s
and the faceless private equity barons of this world. They’re not going
away.

But Congress neither are we!

The
Scottish constitutional debate is a debate about where power should lie and
why.It will be of little real relevance
unless government, wherever it sits, has the power and is willing to use it to
prevent the destructive actions of private equity or if workers through their
union, do not have the power to influence the actions of an employer, and
achieve a much more equal share on our national wealth.

On the last afternoon of STUC Congress 2014, Mary Senior, UCU delivered the following speech moving support for Composite motion C on A Just Scotland:

Congress, in
Inverness two years ago we decided that the debate over Scotland’s
constitutional future was just too important to be left to the politicians
alone.

STUC Congress was
determined that the voice of working people would be heard and that the programmes
of the Yes and No campaigns would be tested against the proud and unwavering values
of our movement. With the future of our country at stake we were simply not
prepared to settle for debate containing little more than political fluff,
sound bites and half-truths.

Congress,
I think I can state with some confidence that the STUC’s A Just Scotland
campaign has achieved these aims. It is true that much of the public debate
remains mired in assertion and incivility - with personal abuse continuing to be
a very unwelcome feature particularly on social media - but the campaigns and
political parties have had to respond to the analysis and difficult questions
set out in the two A Just Scotland
reports.

Following
publication of the interim report there was a discernible shift in the terrain
on which the referendum battle was being fought. The ground shifted to
competing visions of social justice. This will be the legacy of A Just Scotland.

Working
people are now better informed on the issues that at the core of the debate.
Politicians and the campaigns are now more aware of the questions working
people want answered.

Not
every question set out in the second A
Just Scotland report has been satisfactorily answered - the contributions of
both Alex Salmond and Johann Lamont at the Congress both testify to this fact -
but the STUC will continue to press the campaigns over the coming months to
make sure our members are as informed as they can be when they step into the
ballot box on September 18th.

Whatever
the outcome in September the STUC will as ever vigorously defend the interests
of working people in Scotland: whether it be making sure that workers’ rights
are at the forefront of the political agenda in an independent Scotland or
fighting for enhanced devolution which is sufficiently strong to deliver on
social justice in the face of Tory austerity at Westminster.

For
working people know that constitutional change cannot in and of itself deliver
a better, more socially just Scotland. The same elites and vested interests
that have Osborne’s back on austerity will remain as active and well-funded in
whatever constitutional scenario Scotland finds itself in. Scotland’s trade
unions will continue to be the progressive force which counteracts and
overcomes these forces of privilege and self-interest.

The
STUC will remain at the forefront of the constitutional debate and A Just Scotland initiative will continue
to inform and challenge in advance of the referendum. A Just Scotland will not be won or lost on 18 September. The trade
union movement knows that whatever the decision the fight for social justice,
good jobs and public services will go on. The STUC, with the support of this
Congress, will be ready to meet the challenge.

Monday, 14 April 2014

The following speech on the economy was delivered to STUC Congress 2014 by Pat Rafferty, Scottish Secretary UNITE on behalf of the STUC General Council:

Congress,

We meet here today at a
time when the eyes of the world are looking at Scotland and its democracy.

Questions are being asked about
Scotland’s economy;

Scotland’s currency:

And it’s position within
Europe.

But Congress - whatever the
outcome on 18th September, I want a Scotland that will deliver
fairness for its people.

A Socially Just Scotland

An economy - where the work
you do is paid at a fair rate - where
the minimum wage is the Living Wage;

An economy where we have
decent homes for all - and the abolition of the despicable bedroom tax;

A country that protects the most vulnerable in society;

And of course – A country that protects our public services
and our beloved National Health Service.

But Congress – This UK government’s
austerity measures are damaging the most vulnerable in our society and pitching
one against the other:

The young against the old

The abled bodied against the disabled

And the employed versus the unemployed

And Congress,

I am bitterly disappointed with a Labour Party which has sided with the
Con-Dem government to support a cap on welfare benefits – they should hang
their heads in shame

The UK government says - that its deep rapid cuts
cannot be avoided – and you need to accept that.

Ministers claim this is the only way to deal with the deficit - and of course - we’ve been told
there is more of the same to come, £25
billion worth to be exact.

They also want us to think that the only choice is
between cutting spending and increasing tax rates.

However the cuts that have been made have slowed the recovery.

Instead of forcing banks to
lend to small businesses - which would create jobs as well as offering
opportunities for young people to work - this UK Government is focusing its
plans on cutting welfare benefits and public services.

With 900,000 unemployed
young people, we urgently need a strategy to prevent another lost
generation.

We need to incentivise
employers to employ our young people by providing more apprenticeships and tax
incentives.

We need to defend the
collective bargaining agenda from further attacks by a UK Government set on
reducing workers collective strength - but also to restore justice at work by
halting the decline in real wages.

And we need a strategy for growth
which will get Britain back to work.But
these need to be quality jobs. Not the low skill, low wage jobs we see being
created.

People need job security -
not zero hours contracts - with workers not knowing if they have work from one day
to the next and unable to make any plans for their future.

There is only one winner in
that contractual arrangement - and it’s not the workers or the economy – It’s
the greedy employers.

We know only too well the
individual hardships people face as they are told their job is redundant.We see the impact this has on them and their
families as they desperately look for something else in a job market which is
offering low paid, insecure work.

All of us here today will
have first-hand experience of the huge increase in casework as rogue employers
take advantage of the UK Government’s attacks on ordinary workers’ rights - by
meting out unjustified punishments to workers, and their representatives, who
are striving to do their best in very difficult times.

Since the late 1970’s, the
share of GDP going to workers’ wages has fallen from 65% to 53%, with those in
the middle and the bottom hit hardest.

At the same time - the
proportion going to profits and to the wealthy has risen sharply.

As wages have stagnated -
debt has soared and incomes have been squeezed further.

A recent
report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that during the recession - the
number of households that cannot afford a decent standard of living have
increased by a fifth – from 3.8 million to 4.7 million.

That is why we are seeing
more and more people using pay day loan companies and food banks to get by from
one week to the next.

The Office for Budget
Responsibility expects household debt in the UK to reach over £2 trillion by
2015.

But Congress - there is a
better way. One based on social justice.

As trade unionists we must
galvanise the support of our sisters and brothers,

Our friends and family -
and the communities we live in.

We need to ensure proposals
for sustainable economic growth are delivered - which are tied to an industrial
strategy based upon a trade union agenda,

On the first morning of STUC Congress 2014, the following speech was delivered by STUC Vice-President June Minnery (GMB) in moving a composite motion on collective bargaining:

Congress, collective
bargaining is about more than obtaining a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s
work, protecting terms and conditions and safeguarding our members’ health and
safety.

It is about equality.
It is about building and sustaining workplace democracy. It is about the
development of a society which is fairer, more equal and democratic - and where
economic power is more evenly distributed.

The sorry truth is
that for far too long now, successive governments have refused to acknowledge
any kind of positive role for collective bargaining. It has been considered an
unwelcome rigidity which prevents the otherwise flexible labour market from adjusting
to meet changes in demand for labour. The wider benefits of collective
bargaining have been deliberately obscured and diminished. For flexible labour
market read low wage, low regulation, and low valuation of a disposable
workforce.

But if politicians
do indeed want to tackle economic insecurity and income inequality – and, yes,
that is a big ‘if’! - then government at all levels must urgently reassess the
benefits of collective bargaining.

During the
referendum campaign we have heard an awful lot about the superior economic and
social performance of the Nordic nations. But this rarely includes reference to
the high levels of trade union membership and very wide collective bargaining
coverage which are at the very centre of their models:

In Norway 72% of
workers are covered by collective agreements. This rises to 82% in Demark and to
90% in Finland. In Sweden the pay, terms and conditions and pension rights of
92% of all workers are safeguarded by collective agreements. It is no accident
that womens’ participation in the labour market is higher in these countries
and that the gender pay gap is lower.

The income
distribution in these countries is – hardly surprisingly – much more fairly
distributed than in Scotland and the UK. Indeed, across all the developed
nations, higher collective bargaining coverage is positively correlated with
lower income inequality. More workers covered by a collective agreement leads
to a fairer distribution of income; end of story.

As with the Nordic
nations, few of the politicians currently in thrall to the German industrial
model have talked about the collective bargaining which helps drive a long term
ethos throughout the system. It appears that when studying the experiences of
other countries people often see only what they want to see.

It’s also revealing
to track over time how the decline in union membership and collective
bargaining coverage is accompanied with the top 1% grasping an even bigger
slice of the cake for themselves.

In 1970 with trade
union membership and collective bargaining coverage at an all-time high in the
UK, the income share of the top 1% was only 5%. As bargaining coverage declined
over the following three decades the income share of the top 1% tripled. The
less workers are covered by collective agreements the greater the ability of
those at the top to loot the gains produced by all.

Congress, this
composite includes a range of proposals which if implemented would go a long
way to ensuring more people benefit from the higher pay and greater security
provided by a collective agreement. The benefits of collective bargaining are
confirmed by a large and accumulating body of research. Politicians, who tell
us they want policy to be evidence based, should really start acting on it. The
Scottish Government now has an opportunity to do exactly that through the
Mather Commission in which the STUC is heavily involved.

And Congress it is
essential that free, independent trade unions are at the core of any new
efforts to extend and improve collective bargaining across the economy. The
last thing Scottish workers need is for their pay, terms and conditions to be
negotiated by ‘employee representatives’ who haven’t been democratically elected
and are usually captured by management. Scotland doesn’t need ostensibly
progressive but practically weak models of workplace relations imported from elsewhere.

This composite is a
litmus test for Government at all levels: seek to support an agenda for
collective bargaining or cease with platitudes about inequality, low wages and decent
work.

But let me make
clear that the STUC General Council knows that increasing the number of people
in Scotland covered by a collective agreement ultimately depends on the
effectiveness of trade union organising agendas. We’re not looking for anyone
else to do this for us. All the measures outlined in this composite seek to
achieve is the creation of a level playing field for union organisers to do
what they do.

It is right that
Scotland’s trade unions are at the forefront of the living wage campaign. The
national minimum wage which has done so much to help the very lowest paid was
also one of our great successes. However, in supporting fair wages across the
economy, protecting hard won terms and conditions and underpinning a better
society it is collective bargaining which really matters.

About Me

The STUC is Scotland's Trade Union centre.
Our purpose is to co-ordinate, develop and articulate the views and policies of the trade union movement in Scotland and, through the creation of real social partnership, to promote: trade unionism; equality and social justice; the creation and maintenance of high quality jobs; and the public sector delivery of services.
The STUC represents over 596,000 trade unionists, the members of 37 affiliated trade unions and 22 Trades Union Councils. We speak for trade union members in and out of work, in the community and in the workplace, in all occupational sectors and across Scotland. Our representative structures ensure that we can speak with authority for the interests of women workers, black workers, young workers and other groups of trade unionists that otherwise suffer discrimination in the workplace and in society.